This was a fun layout to make, full of digital experimenting. First, I worked on combining five photos into one large focal point picture. The process was basically selecting my son out of each photo with an oval selection (set to feather at 100px or so) and then layering them together. Lots of trial and error. I used some cloning to clean things up. Then I added my dot flourish brush, but I wanted some color in it, so I experimented with selecting the flourish and adding a gradient (fading color) to it. I ended up using the brush as an eraser, so it would look like the flourish was made of holes punched out of my layout. Then I added a small yellow to white gradient behind the brush to add a splash of color. Then I spent some time trying out different title options, and wasn’t happy with anything until I remembered this alpha, which I purchased a few month ago and hadn’t used yet. This layout took a couple of hours to make, but I don’t mind because I was having such a good time learning new techniques.